CHAPTER III 
FORESTS AS SITES FOR SANATORIA 
As stated above, Ebermayer showed that forest air, like 
that of the seas and mountains, is free from injurious gases, 
dust, particles, and bacteria. The forest soil is hygienically 
pure. These facts are excellent reasons for locating sanatoria 
for tuberculous patients and convalescent homes in forest 
districts (Fig. 1). Such patients require open-air treat- 
ment, which necessitates protection against cold or severe 
wind. Wind raises dust, which increases cough and dyspnoea 
if the lungs are affected (1). The progress of patients is 
often best in mountain resorts in winter, when the snow 
lying on the ground prevents dust. Even when forests are 
not accessible, the occurrence of belts of trees around the 
grounds of sanatoria are useful for protection against wind. 
Walks in a wooded country are most agreeable, and the 
psychic effect of beautiful woodland scenery is beneficial 
in many cases of illness. As hay fever is due to a peculiar 
poison in the pollen of certain grasses and closely allied 
plants, places where these plants are rare or absent, like 
pine forests and heaths, may be resorted to with advantage 
by patients suffering from this distressing malady (2). 
It has been the universal belief, from ancient times till 
now, that forests of conifers exercise a beneficial and curative 
effect on consumptive patients. The physicians of Rome, 
in the time of the Caesars, sent patients with ulcerated 
lungs to the pine forests of Libya. Pliny (3), in a state- 
ment that sounds quite modern, remarks: “ Forests, especially 
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